BORREGO SPRINGS  El Cajon author Diana Lindsay has been named the Outdoor Writer of the Year by the Outdoor Writers Association of California for her book “Ricardo Breceda: The Accidental Artist.”

The 256-page coffee-table book, filled with photographs and published by Sunbelt Publications of El Cajon, tells the story of how Breceda came to create more than 130 metal sculptures on display in open fields all over Borrego Springs.

A sculpture of a giant serpent by sculptor Ricardo Breceda sits in the Borrego desert on Friday. Hayne Palmour IV

A sculpture of a giant serpent by sculptor Ricardo Breceda sits in the Borrego desert on Friday.

Now a Temecula resident, Breceda was commissioned in 2008 by the late-Dennis Avery, a wealthy philanthropist who owned about 3 square miles of undeveloped property throughout the desert town. Avery asked Breceda to build metal sculptures depicting the types of animals that once roamed the valley floor when the area was a lush jungle.

Sculptor Ricardo Breceda stands next to one his sculptures in the Borrego desert on Friday. Hayne Palmour IV

Sculptor Ricardo Breceda stands next to one his sculptures in the Borrego desert on Friday.

Avery’s vision expanded over the next several years to include historical and fantastic mythical creatures, including a 350-foot dragon/snake, which was one of the last sculptures erected before Avery’s unexpected death last year.